Sales! Sales! Sales!

I would like to use this blog as a way to personally thank the person at Old Navy this morning who was declined from being able to sign up for an Old Navy card.

Why you ask?

Because that allowed me to be the 50th person in line at their Stuff-n-Save event...which meant I got 50% off of everything I purchased, including clearance stuff that was already take an additional 50% off! That's right, I got to take another 50% off stuff that was already marked on clearance and 50% off of that price. I got the girls matching jeans for $1.87 a piece! (You had to have their credit card to participate)

Now, I would like to personally thank Oprah, for giving me that cool code to purchase anything at Payless today for 50% off.

And of course, I would like to personally thank my husband for bringing home a paycheck so that I can go out and spend it at these amazing events. Oh, and for taking the kids today so that I was kid-free.

But, I would also like to personally thank myself for being the one who physically pays the bills, so that my husband has no idea the kind of damage I can do. :)

(I actually got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done...in my defense!)

More Halloween Fun

Halloween isn't until Saturday, yet we've had all kinds of Halloween fun around here. Tonight we went to party at Kennedy's school. Ansley actually has warmed up to the chicken costume and wore it once this weekend, however tonight she asked to be a princess. So we dug through the dress-up clothes and put a little outfit together, which turned out pretty cute if you ask me. Enjoy.

Great Wolf Lodge

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Kansas City to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge with Jeremy's parents, and his brother Adam and his family. We had a great time, even though it was too short! Kennedy and Ansley had a lot of fun playing with their cousin Chelsea (who is a couple of weeks younger than Ansley) and dancing together with her and Aunt Heidi. We swam in the indoor water park and just enjoyed being together. Of course, we also had a little time after the kids went to bed to play a little Settlers of Catan. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Cool Picture and Parent Teacher Conferences

Look at this great picture Jeremy took of Kennedy:

Today we went to Kennedy's school for Parent-Teacher Conferences. It's a little weird being on the other side of the conference. Basically she's doing great with everything, but the only areas she needs to improve are "Participates in Conversations" and "Holds Pencil Correctly". Her teacher talked about how bright she was, and just said she was a little shy, but it slowly coming out of her shell. Guess she takes after mom there...I don't think Jeremy has a shy bone in his body, and certainly never has trouble participating in conversations! :)

She also said that Kennedy is the only child in her class that can count to 20! I was a little surprised by that. Not that she can count to 20, (in fact at dinner she counted to 100), but that she is the only one out of 26 three and four year olds that can count that high. Maybe some of them were having a rough day and not wanting to perform. Goodness, Ansley can already count to 10. Who knows? Maybe I just have brainiac children? :) Currently in her class they are working on counting to 5, and they don't start writing the alphabet until January. She told me this as Kennedy handed her a drawing she made where she had written her name on it. I'm thinking if it weren't so much more expensive, Kennedy probably would have benefitted more from the Pre-K class. I'm more interested in the socialization aspect of it for her though. Maybe she'll be better at "participating in conversations" by the time she gets to Kindergarten! I may want to be careful what I wish for though!

Halloween Preview

As I was typing the update to the previous post, the doorbell rang and it was the UPS man with the much anticipated Halloween costume. Kennedy has discovered the Wizard of Oz, and has quite a fascination with it. Early September she declared she was going to be Dorothy for Halloween. I emailed my mom and mother-in-law to ask them to keep their eyes/ears open for a costume. Did they ever come through! Nana (Jeremy's mom) bought her some "ruby red slippers" at Target and my mom volunteered to sew her a dress. She's had the shoes for quite some time, but I don't let her wear them very often in fear that all the red sparkles will fall off before Halloween. Pretty much since she found out Grandma (my mom) was going to make the dress, I think she has called her weekly to see how it is going.

Well today was the big day. I knew it was supposed to arrive today, but hadn't told Kennedy yet. When the doorbell rang and she saw me bring in the package, her eyes were as big as could be. It was like Christmas morning for her and she couldn't open the package fast enough! Lunch was then put on hold so we could fully change into the dress, and braid her hair just like Dorothy. Thank you so much to Nana for the shoes (she wants to wear them with everything!) and Grandma for the costume--I know it wasn't easy and took some time, but we really appreciate it!

As for Ansley, we are undecided about a costume. She was going to be this, (click on it for a picture of Kennedy at 18 months) but she's scared of the costume. Her back-up options are a Harding Cheerleader (which is what Kennedy was at age 2, but Ansley has her own outfit now) or a princess. I'm still hoping for the chicken, only because it will be nice and warm, but we'll see. Here are some pictures of Dorothy (and some of her sidekick, Ansley).

Weather Watcher

Update: She did it! And in case you were wondering, it was cloudy and rainy.

Here's a cute story about Kennedy at Preschool:

Almost everyday when I pick Kennedy up from school, one of the first things she tells me is that she didn't get to be the weather watcher at school. Apparently this is the very important job of looking out the window and informing the class what the weather looks like, so the teachers can determine if they will have outside recess. She goes on and on about who got picked, and that they had done it before, and she never gets picked, etc, to the point where I had planned on asking her teachers about it at conferences this coming Monday. Not that I am upset or worried about it, but I just thought I'd ask what the process was for choosing, so that I could explain it to Kennedy. I figured maybe she missed her turn while we were gone on vacation.

Well, Tuesday she got in the car and was telling me all about the day. I asked her if she got to be the weather watcher. Her reply was "Well, they asked me if I wanted to be, but I told them no". I couldn't believe my ears. I asked her why she said no, and she said she just didn't feel like doing it, and maybe she would next time. At this point I am laughing, and can't believe my little girl. I called Jeremy and he started laughing too. What a little booger.

So, Jeremy took her to school this morning and pulled her teacher aside to tell her the funny story. She then asked Kennedy, who was busy playing by this time, if she wanted to be the weather watcher today. Then, Jeremy said Kennedy shot him a look that clearly said "Dad! What did you just tell my teacher???" Kennedy then looked at the teacher and shook her head yes. I am very anxious to find out whether she did it or not! I'll fill you in later!

Evening Entertainment

Have the girls been watching too much TV? I'll let you be the judge!

Hotel Life

Today marks the beginning of the third week of us living in a hotel. Honestly, it hasn't been horrible. We are ready to be back home, and tired of living out of suitcases, but we can't complain too much about our arrangements.
Here is a list of things I will miss about living in a hotel:
1. Not having to make a single bed.
2. Breakfast waiting for us when we go downstairs...with all kinds of choices!
3. Fresh, clean towels daily...without me having to launder them
4. Access to a hot tub
5. Access to an indoor pool for the girls
6. Free soda and snacks every evening
7. No cleaning
8. No grocery shopping
9. No cooking

Here's a list of things I will not miss about living in a hotel:
1. Sharing a bedroom with my entire family
2. Living out of a suitcase
3. Noise at night during the weekends
4. Trying to figure out which restaurant to eat at every night (it really does get old--and it's not good on our figures!)
5. Eating lunch on the floor or couch of our room--that's hard with a 20 month old!
6. No diaper genie!
7. Not being able to park in a garage
8. Having to take an elevator to get to our room
9. Fire alarms being pulled at 9:30 in the evening

Number 9 is the topper on the last list! Last night I was on the phone with my mom around 9:30. The girls were in bed, although not asleep, but having a very fun time entertaining each other, and Jeremy was not here. Suddenly, the fire alarms in the hotel begin going off. I quickly get off the phone with my mom and run to the girls room. They both have looks of terror on their face and are screaming at the top of their lungs. I quickly throw on a sweatshirt over my t-shirt, and have Kennedy get her shoes on. While grabbing Ansley, I am trying to explain what is going on to Kennedy. Having just had fire safety week at school last week, she thinks the hotel is on fire and is prepared to "stop, drop and roll". Although I'm pretty sure it's just a false alarm, I still touch the door knob to make sure it's not hot first. With Ansley clutched to me, sockless--I realize--and Kennedy still screaming at the top of her lungs, I drag her beside me and we head down the four flights of stairs right next to our room. I did manage to grab a room key and my phone on our way out, but unfortunately I forgot the prized bear and blankie of Kennedy's and she starts crying even harder. We are only outside long enough for me to call Jeremy and tell him to get home asap, and we learn someone pulled the alarm. Still screaming, we go back inside. I am trying to explain to Kennedy that we just practiced a fire drill and remind her that she learned last week that you aren't supposed to bring your favorite things with you, and that she did everything perfectly. I try to make it sound like it was a really cool thing we just did, and she'll have to tell her teacher all about it.

Luckily, by this time, Jeremy is home, and able to help me calm Kennedy down. Ansley was visibly shaken, but was silent and still clinging to me. In fact, she didn't stop clinging to me until she was asleep long enough I could put her down. Kennedy however, will probably be talking about this for the next year. We took her down to see the firefighters (there was a girl one, which she couldn't believe!) and the fire truck. She was up until probably close to midnight asking questions and talking about it. It's still the hot topic today as well. We currently have her convinced that the police are watching the alarms so that it will not happen again...otherwise I don't think she would have ever gone to sleep. (Please Lord, do not let this happen again!!!) This morning she asked if we could go meet the police officer, but we told her he was on break during the day so he could stay awake at night to keep watch. She slept in our bed last night, and I have the bad feeling that's where she will continue to sleep for the remainder of our stay. It really freaked her out, and I don't think she will be able to go to sleep on her own while we are here. We'll see though.

Here is a picture of the girls and Jeremy unwinding from the excitement last night by watching a little Elmo. This was the 5 minute segment that Ansley let Jeremy hold her and gave me a quick break. I think it's safe to say we are now all very ready to move back home!

Bored on a Saturday Morning

We're still in the hotel, now until Tuesday. We'll see if that changes again. The girls wanted to make a video this morning. Nothing too exciting, just them showing off a little. My favorite part is when Kennedy recites the Pledge of Allegiance and Ansley mouths along as if she knows it as well.